CHAP. CV. COIIYLA CEiE. ^A GUS. 1949 



Q. microphylla Willd., No. 7., Nee In An. Cicii. Nat, 3. p. 264., Flsch. Misc. Hisp., 1. p. 99., 

 N. Uu Ham., 7. p. 15i?., Rees'sCycl., No. 7. Leaves lanceolate, pointed, entire, villous; downy beneath. 

 Calyx of the fruit villous. Nut roundish. ( WUld.) Found by Louis Nee in the hills of Arambaro, in 

 New Spain. A shrub, from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high, with a rough ash-coloured bark. Leaves on short 

 stalks, scattered, numerous, from 4 to 6 lines long, scarcely 2 lines broad ; veiny, revolute, wavy, 

 pointed, reddish grey ; villous above, densely downy beneath ; those about the extremities of the 

 branches opposite. Stipules awl-shaped, falling off at the end of summer. Acorns in axillary pairs 

 about the ends of the branches, ovate, the size of a large pea, half-covered by the villous cup, which 

 is invested with unequal sides. {Nee, as quoted in Rees's Cycl.) Humboldt compares the young leaves 

 of his <i. mexicana to this species. (See p. 1943.) He also states that the young shoots of Q. reps'inda 

 (p. 1942.) agree with the description of those of U. microph5^11a ; but he adds that he had not seen 

 Nee's plant. 



Q. lobAta Willd., No. 70., Nee in Ann. Cien. Nat, 3. p. 237., Fisch. Misc. Hisp., 1. p. 116., N. 

 Du Ham., 7. p. 180., Rees's Cycl., No. 76. Leaves obovate, wedge-shaped, sinuatcd, smooth ; lobes 

 toothed. [H'illd.) Native of New Spain. Branches furrowed, alternate. Leaves 4 in. long, 2| in. 

 wide, smooth, alternate; orbicular towards the extremity ; wedge-shaped at the lower part; sinuated; 

 the lobes rounded, obtuse, toothed. Footstalks slender, 3 or 4 lines in length. {Nee, as quoted in 

 Hees's Cycl.) 



Q. magnohxibWa. Willd., No. 16., Nee in An. Cien. Nat., 3- p. 268., Fisc/i. M'.sc. Hisp., 1. 

 p. 103., N. Du Ham.,l.\>.^5i., Smith mRces's\Cycl. ,tio. 18. Leaves ovate-oblong, coriaceous, entire, 

 shining; downy beneath ; somewliat emarginate at the base. Fruit racemose. (IVilld.) Found by 

 Louis Nee in the kingdom of Mexico, between Chilpancingo and Tixtala, and about the river Azul. 

 This is an elegant tree, £0 ft. or more in height. Trunk thick, with a dark-coloured bark, full of 

 fissures. Branches horizontal ; younger ones furrowed, and dotted with white. Leaves 6 in. or 8 in. 

 long, and Sin. broad; ovate, rigid; sometimes emarginate at the base ; green and shining above ; 

 downy beneath, with the larger veins prominent, and the smaller reticulated. Footstalks thick, a 

 line in length. Stipules crisped, downy, deciduous. Female clusters solitary, axillary, 2 in. long ; the 

 lower ones alternate, upper opposite. Acorns ovate, half.covered by a hemispherical cup, which is the 

 size of the seed of Cicer arietinum, and has 'its scales scarcely at all imbricated. (Nee, as quoted in 

 Itees's Cycl.) This is closely allied to Q. Ifitea, which, indeed, Humboldt considers as the same species ; 

 and to Q. crassifulia Humb. et Bonp., p.l946. It has also a great affinity with Q. stipularis (p,1945.) ; 

 but differs in the disposition of its fruit. 



Q. liUea Willd., No. 17., Nee in An. Cien. Nat, 3. p. 269., Fisch. Misc. Hisp., 1. p. 105., N. 

 Du Ham., 7. p. 155., Smith in Rees's Cycl., No. 19. The yeWovi. leaved Mexican oak. Leaves obovate, 

 entire, shining ; somewliot heart-shaped at the base; downy and yellow beneath. Fruit racemose. 

 {Willd.) Native of Mexico. This agrees with Q. magno\i,efvlia in its growth and fructification; 

 insomuch that it may be thought a variety : yet the leaves are very different They are of a larger 

 size, broader towards the end, and contracted towards the footstalk ; as well as more deeply emar- 

 ginate at the base ; and their under side is covered with ochry yellow pubescence. {Eees's Cycl.) 

 Humboldt considers this the same species as Q. magnoMcrfdlia, and very closely allied to his Q. 

 crassifolia (p. 1940.). 



Q. salicifdlia Willd., No. 8., Nee in An. Cien. Nat., 3. p. 26.5., Fisch. Misc. Hisp., 1. p. 101., N. 

 Du Ham., 7. p. 152., Rees's Cycl., No. 8. The Willow-leaved Mexican Oak. [.eaves oblong-lanceolate, 

 entire, smooth ; the forks of the veins villous and brown beneath. Nut oblong. {Willd.) Found by 

 Louis Nee in the kingdom of Mexico, near Acapulco. A tre^ 28 ft. high, with alternate branches ; 

 the young ones somewhat furrowed, and clothed with brownish red hairs. Leaves from 5 in. to 7 in. 

 long, 1 in. wide, scattered on short stalks, rather coriaceous, smooth, veiny, entire, wavy, pointed ; 

 reticulated and green above ; yellowisli beneath, with tufts of hairs, as big as a pin's head, in the 

 forks of the veins. Acorns nearly sessile, in axillary pairs, the size of a hazelnut; downy, half-covered 

 by the hemispherical, greyish, villous cup; beset with very thin scales. {Nee, as quoted in Rees's 

 Cycl.) 



Genus II. 



ii^A'GUS L. The Beech. Lin. Syst. Monoe'cia PoI.yiindria. 



IderUijication. Lin. Gen., No. 1072.; Reich., 1170.; Schrcb., 1448.; Gtertn., t .37. ; Juss., 409. ; 



Tourn., 351 ; Willd. Sp. PI., 1694 ; N. Du Ham., 2. p. 79. ; Ait. Hort Kew., 5. p. 297. 

 Synonyines. According to Bauhin, the Fagus of the Romans, and the Oxua of the Greeks ; Cast&nea 



Tourn., 352., Mill. Diet., f. 84. ; Hetre, Fr. ; Buchc, Ger. ; Beuke, Diilcii ; Bog, Dan. ; Bok, Swed. ; 



Buk, Russ. and Pol. ; Faggio, Ital. ; Haya, Span. ; Faya, Port. 

 Derivation. From pliago, to eat; because the nuts were used as food in the early ages. 



Description, Sfc. Large and handsome deciduous trees ; natives of Europe, 

 and of North and South America, and AustraUa. The wood is used for 

 various purposes; but more especially in cabinet-making, joinery, and turnery. 

 The fruit affords food for swine, and supports squirrels and various wild ani- 

 mals : it also yields a valuable oil. Plants are almost always raisetl from 

 seed, except in the case of varieties. Linna?us united the genus Castanea with 

 Tragus, which was not done by any botanist before his time, and which has 

 not been adopted by many of the moderns. The distinctive characteristics of 

 the two genera are, that Castiinea has the male flowers on very long cat- 

 kins, with the seeds farinaceous ; while i^agus, on the contrary, has the male 

 flowers on globular catkins, and the seeds oily. M. Mirbel, who has revised 

 the generic character of the beech, so as to include in it the South Ameri- 

 can and Australian species, has arranged them in two sections, which arrange- 

 ment we shall here aiiopt. 



